For the way it looks, moves, and feels, Radiant Baby is a must-see show.
The new musical at the Public Theater dealing with the life of the iconic
1980s New York artist, Keith Haring, is one of the most perfect examples on
display in New York of what the physical shape of a musical today is, and
where it's going tomorrow.

For this, thank director George C. Wolfe, who has seen that the show moves -
as a lyric describes Harin - "at the speed of life." What was the last
musical to move so fluidly? When is the last time the way a musical looked
and moved - seamlessly fusing the lights (here provided by Howell Binkley),
costumes (Emilio Sosa), and sets (Riccardo Hernandez, his most dazzling work
to date) - was itself a work of art?

In its production, Radiant Baby is one of the most exciting musicals New
York has seen in years.

In its material, it's one of the most conventional.

That's the most puzzling thing about Radiant Baby, that it takes someone
with Haring's uniquely creative outlook and output and reduces it to the
mundane, all the while wrapping it in a wildly entertaining package as
infectious as Haring's art itself.

Take, for example, the songs. With music by Debra Barsha and lyrics by
(variously) Ira Gasman, Stuart Ross, and Barsha, the songs are heavily
steeped in the 1980s style, whether rock, punk, or even (occasionally) pop.
But just the titles alone suggest quite a bit: "Faster Than the Speed of
Life," "Draw and Move," "Spirit of the Line," "Get Me To New York," "Art
Attack," "Flavor of the Week," and so on. As innovative as Radiant Baby's
production is, its score - despite its completely cohesive nature - will do
absolutely nothing to push the genre forward.

The book (by Stuart Ross) is much the same. Haring, a misunderstood yet
talented young man comes to New York in the late 1970s, is seduced by both
its artistic and its sexual culture, and becomes a hero of the streets when,
in search of space for his drawings, takes chalk to empty panels on subway
walls, becoming the artistic hero of his generation. But with success comes
a price. He overextends himself artistically, is accused of selling out,
and suffers major financial failures before a final last burst of creative
energy and popular success that he rides on until his death from AIDS in
1990.

Yes, you've seen it before; just the details are different.

The performances are well in keeping with this - powerful voices, less
intoxicating personalities. Daniel Reichard, as Keith Haring, gives a
marathon performance, both vocally and physically. He's a font of energy as
unbridled and infinite as Haring's own work suggested he was. It could well
be a star-making performance, but how many roles will give Reichard all the
opportunities he has here?

Every other role is smaller, but they're all capably filled. Kate Jennings
Grant is strong (if underutilized) as Keith's exasperated secretary, Aaron
Lohr does fine as Keith's representative boyfriend but is saddled with an
underdefined character and the score's most maudlin song ("I Really Loved
You"), Julee Cruise finds plenty of comedy in both Haring's mother and his
artistic mentor Andy Warhol, and three kids (Anny Jules, Gabriel Enrique
Alvarez, and Remy Zaken) narrate most of the story and define Haring's
devotion to the artistic development of children. Angela Robinson and Billy
Porter really stand out in the chorus, and if Radiant Baby runs long at the
Newman, their electrifying work in the show's biggest production numbers,
"Paradise" and "Instant Gratification" will surely require major roof
repair.

But the constantly moving set pieces, the eye-popping array of projections
(the striking work of Batwin + Robin Productions) as colorful in hue as they
are in motion, the incorporation of Haring's own work into most every
design, the dizzying, brilliant scene in which Haring rises to the top of
New York popular culture contrasted with the blank canvas his life becomes
as his death nears... The production sets Radiant Baby apart; it makes it
seem like all musicals should look and behave just this way.

Yet, even at its most baldly emotional as the end of the second act looms,
Radiant Baby can still enervate and touch your emotions; the group numbers
"Quartet" and "Stay" that close the show are, for all their familiar
sentiment and blatantly manipulative musical structures, moving and even
inspiring. They, like the rest of the show, demonstrate the value in
embracing old traditions and creating new ones.

Must Radiant Baby - or any new musical - open up new territory? That's open
to debate. But whether Radiant Baby is the first step in a new journey or
another step in an older one is immaterial - it lessens Radiant Baby's
shine not a whit.

_____________________________

Public TheaterRadiant Baby
Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes with one 15-minute intermission
Newman Theatre at the Public Theatre, 425 Lafayette Street between Astor Place and East 4th Street
Tickets online and current Performance Schedule: Tele-Charge